<p>Every evening after work, Tanya walks home from the Indiranagar metro station. As she turned onto 9th A Main Road on Sunday, she took out her phone to call a friend. Just as she said hello, a hand grabbed her phone and yanked it away. On instinct, she screamed as loud as she could, but she could already see two men on a scooter driving away with her phone. </p>.<p>Thankfully for her, the street had multiple other people on bikes who, on knowing what happened, followed the vehicle. A man from across the street called out to her as she was running behind the vehicle and pointed out that they had dropped her phone. </p>.<p>She was one of the lucky ones, who got her phone with with virtually no damage done bar from a few cracks on her phone cover. </p>.<p>If successful, the miscreants are known to either dismantle the phones and sell the parts or remove all identifying information and sell the phone in other states. Reported cases show that they either grab phones from people who are speaking on it or are booking cabs.</p>.<p>While the odds of getting your phone back after it has been stolen is near impossible. Here are a few precautions you can take to keep your device safe. </p>.<p>The first and the most difficult step is to avoid using your phone on the road. But since these devices are also used to book cabs, follow directions and by women to talk to someone for a sense of safety while walking alone, this step is not always practical.</p>.<p>If you are not using your phone or are using it to listen to music, you are advised to keep your phone in your bag or a front pocket. Don’t keep it in the back pocket or hold it in your hand as they can be easily snatched.</p>.<p>If you are speaking on the phone either hold the phone on the ear that’s away from the road or use your headphones and keep the phone in your bag or pocket. </p>.<p>When you are walking down the street, share your live location with a trusted friend or family member. This way even if the phone is stolen, it would be easy to track it down. Pro tip: sharing your location on Google Maps drains less battery than when sharing it on WhatsApp. </p>.<p>Keep a note of your phone’s serial number and IMEI number (if Android). These details can make it easier to find your phone if it has been stolen. </p>.<p>Most time when your phone is swiped, it tends to be unlocked. So apart from the hardware, your data is also at risk. You can use the find my device tools by both Android and iOS to remotely locate and erase the data off your phone. If you have a Google account logged in on your phone, you might be able to do the same using that. </p>.<p>Do make sure to keep a back-up of your data. While your phone may do this automatically, it is safer to do a weekly back-up manually. </p>
<p>Every evening after work, Tanya walks home from the Indiranagar metro station. As she turned onto 9th A Main Road on Sunday, she took out her phone to call a friend. Just as she said hello, a hand grabbed her phone and yanked it away. On instinct, she screamed as loud as she could, but she could already see two men on a scooter driving away with her phone. </p>.<p>Thankfully for her, the street had multiple other people on bikes who, on knowing what happened, followed the vehicle. A man from across the street called out to her as she was running behind the vehicle and pointed out that they had dropped her phone. </p>.<p>She was one of the lucky ones, who got her phone with with virtually no damage done bar from a few cracks on her phone cover. </p>.<p>If successful, the miscreants are known to either dismantle the phones and sell the parts or remove all identifying information and sell the phone in other states. Reported cases show that they either grab phones from people who are speaking on it or are booking cabs.</p>.<p>While the odds of getting your phone back after it has been stolen is near impossible. Here are a few precautions you can take to keep your device safe. </p>.<p>The first and the most difficult step is to avoid using your phone on the road. But since these devices are also used to book cabs, follow directions and by women to talk to someone for a sense of safety while walking alone, this step is not always practical.</p>.<p>If you are not using your phone or are using it to listen to music, you are advised to keep your phone in your bag or a front pocket. Don’t keep it in the back pocket or hold it in your hand as they can be easily snatched.</p>.<p>If you are speaking on the phone either hold the phone on the ear that’s away from the road or use your headphones and keep the phone in your bag or pocket. </p>.<p>When you are walking down the street, share your live location with a trusted friend or family member. This way even if the phone is stolen, it would be easy to track it down. Pro tip: sharing your location on Google Maps drains less battery than when sharing it on WhatsApp. </p>.<p>Keep a note of your phone’s serial number and IMEI number (if Android). These details can make it easier to find your phone if it has been stolen. </p>.<p>Most time when your phone is swiped, it tends to be unlocked. So apart from the hardware, your data is also at risk. You can use the find my device tools by both Android and iOS to remotely locate and erase the data off your phone. If you have a Google account logged in on your phone, you might be able to do the same using that. </p>.<p>Do make sure to keep a back-up of your data. While your phone may do this automatically, it is safer to do a weekly back-up manually. </p>
